This was such an enjoyable marriage of convenience romance!
It’s a one night stand turned more when Lexi discovers the man she had a wild night with turns out to be none other than the man trying to buy out her family’s ski resort. She’s convinced he seduced her on purpose, but things take a turn when he offers to marry her so she can inherit the resort and he can get payback to his former employer.
It has everything I love about marriage of convenience – the forced proximity, the tension (which these two give in to often), the “wife” nickname. I loved both characters – Devlin is so charming and confident but in a non-toxic way, and Lexi is so spunky and determined to save her family’s resort. The two had such a fun relationship with so much chemistry, and I loved the way Devlin supported her to help make her dream come true.
It’s a Melanie Harlow book so of course it’s very spicy but also funny and full of heart. We get plenty of Buckley family time, and also the fun addition of Winnie from Ignite as Lexi’s friend. This has been my favorite of the series so far and I’m still looking forward to the rest of the Buckley’s stories!
Side note – I have seen some reviews calling it enemies to lovers and I don’t think that’s quite true. She doesn’t like him at the beginning but he always likes her so it’s one-sided at best.
Finally we get Roan’s story! I’ve been waiting for this since the beginning of the series and it did not disappoint. We’ve seen Roan as the solitary, sort of outsider of the Hartley family and it was so wonderful to see him find the place where he belongs.
Aspen is in hiding with her daughter due to reasons we find out as the story unfolds, and when danger yet again arrives at her door, Roan is there to protect her even if that means sleeping on her couch and being attacked by her cat.
I loved watching that grumpy loner fall for both Aspen and Cady. The relationship between Cady and Mr Grizz was just so precious. I also loved watching Roan start to open up to his family after seeing him as such a closed off guy during the series, and I loved how easily and wholly the Hartley’s accepted Aspen and Cady into their fold.
The suspense will keep you guessing, the romance will have you swooning, and the Hartley antics will have you laughing out loud. An excellent edition to the series!
Like a cold glass of sweet tea on a warm summer’s day, I Wish I Knew Then is a refreshing and very southern treat.
Riley and Louise had a whirlwind summer relationship when they were 18, only for Riley to unceremoniously dump Lu at the end of summer. It’s ten years later and the two run into each other at their respective best friend’s wedding, and Riley decides not to let Lu get away this time.
Riley was a man determined, he sacrificed for love once before and wouldn’t make that mistake again. Louise is fresh off a long term relationship and not so sure she’s ready to start something new, especially with the man who broke her heart ten years before.
It’s a very sexy story, full of exploration and rekindled feelings, but it’s also a warm and cozy story about a small touristy southern town and the wedding the two were brought together for. It’s also brimming with food descriptions that had my mouth watering as is common with any Jessica Peterson. Oh, and butt stuff.
It’s a fairly low angst story, just a sweet second story with a lot of spice. I enjoyed it a lot!
Happy Tuesday! The Stars Are On Our Side is out today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is an interconnected standalone based in the same world as Still Beating and Lotus, and I do absolutely recommend reading those first. We first met Tabitha in Still Beating and fell in love with Gabe in Lotus (I did anyway) and I’ve been very excited for their story!
This is an emotional friends to lovers, unrequited love romance that will pull at your heartstrings and take you on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s told in dual timelines, taking us back to Earl’s basement in a series of flashbacks, as well as showing us where Tabitha is today and how the effects of her trauma impact her every day.
Gabe is such a sweetheart, I loved him so much in Lotus and loved him even more here. He was so so so good and kind and loving and patient. Tabitha has been through so much in her short life and I just felt so much for her.
It didn’t pack quite as emotional of a punch for me as Still Beating and Lotus, or at least it didn’t have me feeling emotionally distraught for days after – but to be fair it would be hard to top those. The conflict and drama (as hinted in the blurb) did kind of drive me insane but whatever. It was still great to be back in that world and hanging out with Oliver, Sydney, and Cora!
I definitely recommend this one as long as you’ve read the first two!
The Best Laid Plans releases tomorrow, thank you Montlake for the ARC.
This was such an enjoyable romance! It was perhaps a little more grief heavy than I was anticipating, but I enjoyed how emotional it was.
Burke is recently retired from the NFL due to an injury when he gets the news his best friend has tragically passed in a car accident and left him his grandparent’s mansion which is in massive need of a renovation. All Burke wants to do in his unplanned forced retirement is relax with his family in Florida, so a stressful project halfway across the country doesn’t appeal to him.
The house comes with a project manager in charge of the renovation who convinces him to keep the house and oversee the reno in honor of his best friend who wanted the house returned to its former glory. Burke and Charlotte temporarily move in together in the carriage house on the property and immediately butt heads. I enjoyed the sparks and banter between them and their slow burn relationship. I also really enjoyed their families and the set up for the next book sounds great!
Overall it was a good read, I really enjoyed the setting and the home preservation and I look forward to the next book!
Well, KA Tucker has done it again. She’s masterfully woven a complex and magical tale that is both epic and intimate at the same time, full of love and war, twists and turns, and enough intrigue to keep you guessing.
This book picks up right where book two left off, but with the addition of the POV of more characters. The stakes are as high as ever, the opposing kingdoms are on the brink of war yet again, and everyone can feel the electricity of change in the air.
This book made me laugh, cry, and had me on the edge of my seat. Though their reality is a bit dark and scary, I still appreciated that love could still find a way (and not just Romeria and Zander this time). There was humor in the face of danger, and Jarek has cemented himself as my favorite character of the series.
Though this did start off a little slowly for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it once I remembered what was going on and the plot hit its stride. I hate to be the person that begs for the next book before the current book has had its chance to shine but I’m dying for book four now! I can’t wait to see where this stunning series goes.
Happy Tuesday! The Love Plot by Samantha Young is out today, thank you to the publisher for the early review copy.
This was such a fun opposites attract fake dating romcom!
Rafe needs a fake girlfriend to get his family off his back about settling down, so he makes a deal with Star, the character actor hired to dress up at his niece’s birthday party. She’ll pretend to be his girlfriend, while he’ll pay her a large sum to be at his beck and call for the next six months.
The two are opposites in almost all ways, Rafe is grumpy and reserved, from a rich traditional family while Star is the easygoing daughter of two hippies, content to live her life flying by the seat of her pants.
Rafe is a new favorite of mine, he came across as Darcy-like at the beginning, so reserved and standoffish but I really really loved him as we got to know him. Star was so sunshiney and I loved how she didn’t take anything too seriously. I can’t say she didn’t frustrate me at times, but that’s all part of the character arc, right? Sometimes they have to make mistakes in order to learn from them and grow.
Overall this was a very funny and charming romance about two polar opposites finding their way together with a good amount of steam and emotional moments for balance. I definitely recommend for my romcom loving friends!
BLURB:
There’s a magnetic attraction when a happy-go-lucky gig worker agrees to a fake relationship with a rich, uptight New Yorker in this steamy romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.
Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl’s grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can’t help but needle him. She’ll never see him again, and honestly, he’s pretty hot.
Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn’t mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding “the one,” so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else’s new phone, and he’ll get his family off his back.
When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star’s desire for “no strings” is tested against Rafe’s staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all….
Samantha Young is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series, including Moonlight on Nightingale Way, Echoes of Scotland Street, and Fall from India Place, and the Hart’s Boardwalk series, including Every Little Thing and The One Real Thing, as well as the standalone novels Fight or Flight and Much Ado About You.
We met Luca and Angel in A Merry Little Meet Cute. They had a passionate affair while in Christmas Notch, but Angel ghosted Luca after filming ended to go to Paris with his ex boyfriend (or did he? 🤔)
It’s now summertime and Angel is back in LA, where the two keep running into each other. Will the forced proximity of a Pretty Woman inspired adult film set be too much for them to resist?
It was so fun and quick paced it almost made my head spin. They definitely had a physical attraction (with lots of steam packed into this short book!) but I could have used a little more emotion – however, that’s pretty common for a novella.
Overall though a good time if not an in depth emotional romance! I’m really looking forward to more in this series.
Happy Tuesday! Jasper Vale is out today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and thank you to the author for the gifted copy
Devney Perry’s books are such a comfort to me, no matter what series a new book always feels like coming home. This is Eloise and Jasper’s story which is, as we discovered in Garnet Flats, a drunken Vegas wedding story (which turns into a marriage of convenience, luckily for us.) It’s also the spiciest of the bunch so far, my goodness.
Eloise Eden is trying to prove to her family she’s responsible enough to take over the family’s hotel for good, so a drunken Vegas wedding won’t exactly scream responsibility to them. Jasper is in need of a date to his ex’s wedding, and what’s a better way to show to your ex you are over them than showing up with a new bride on your arm? The two strike an agreement to temporarily stay married and quickly start to fall for each other.
Jasper’s background was a little heartbreaking which drove his decision making in the present, and while I think some will struggle with him, I liked that he felt flawed and real. And though he did make mistakes, he was quick to own up to them. I loved how he believed in Eloise more than anyone else in her life and wasn’t afraid to be her cheerleader.
Eloise was definitely the sunshine to Jasper’s grump, wanting the best for everyone and not afraid to love with her whole heart. I did want to fight most of the Eden family during this for underestimating Eloise but they won me back over by the end.
I love any type of “fake” relationship that turns real in a romance and Jasper and Eloise are no exception. Jasper learning to open up to his wife was great and I loved that he gave Eloise the confidence she was needing to stand up to her family, at least a little.
Totally Folked, the all-new folking delightful and bestselling small town contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid, is available now!
My take:
(ARC Review) Totally Folked is the first book in Penny Reid’s new Good Folk: Modern Folktales series. Though the setting and people are very familiar, it feels new and fresh at the same time. If you’ve never read a Winston Brothers novel you could certainly start here, it’s a great beginning. However, if you’ve read the Winston Brothers or various other Smartypants books, I think you’ll especially appreciate getting to know Jackson James in a new way.
Jackson James is not who I thought he was. We’ve seen him as the slightly antagonistic deputy sheriff throughout the Winston Brothers series and various other Smartypants books. We’ve seen him as the overprotective, slightly annoying big brother. We’ve even seen him as a fake fiancé. Finally we get to see him as the romantic lead and we see that he’s actually a very disciplined man who cares deeply for his community and is trying hard to overcome his reputation as a ladies man.
Raquel Ezra, Hollywood It Girl, spent a fun night with him five years ago at Sienna and Jethro’s wedding. Though their time together was brief, neither has forgotten the other. When Raquel returns to Green Valley, the two still feel that old spark, but each is sort of involved with someone else.
Officially, they are friends. They have good reasons to remain only friends but it just seems impossible for them to stay away. The connection and heat between them was palpable, I could feel the sparks through the screen of my kindle though it is a slowwwwwww burn.
I loved it! I loved seeing this other side of the man we’ve seen in the background of so many other stories. He was so thoughtful, so practical and conscious of his past wrongs. He was trying so hard to be a better man, a good man. He was quite the Boy Scout, for better or for worse.
Rae felt like your new BFF. Though she’s a big star, she’s mostly just a regular girl, struggling to find her place and meaning in the world. She’s at a crossroads and it felt fully relatable even though her problems are very different from mine, some things are universal.
I’m so excited this series exists and can’t wait to read more stories about our favorite secondary, now primary, Green Valley characters! I love this world Penny Reid has built so much! Returning to Green Valley always feels like returning home.
Blurb:
One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .
Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when they begin to feel more like being waylaid rather than getting laid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?
Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Strict adherence to this single rule has served her well. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.
When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.
TOTALLY FOLKED is a standalone, contemporary romantic comedy novel and book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.
To celebrate the release of Totally Folked Penny has an incredible GIVEAWAY!
Enter now for a chance to win a bundle of incredible signed books>>> https://bit.ly/3CnOAxz
Excerpt
“Rae. It’s late.”
“I know, but—”
“Rae,” he ground out, using my hold on his hand to bring us back to a stop. I faced him, my stomach erupting in uncertainty butterflies as I encountered the stern line of his jaw and the glittering, frustrated spark behind his eyes. “We need everyone to believe we’re just friends, right? And if we go inside the house, I don’t think I’m a good enough actor to pull that off.”
My mouth formed an O, and I released him, folding my arms over my chest while I wrestled with a strange combination of disappointment and pleasure at his words. I wanted to spend time with him, talk to him, get to know this mystery of a man so I could understand my feelings better.
But . . . I conceded his point.
We couldn’t seem to be around each other without kissing. Bringing him inside a dark, empty house in the middle of the night was something better left to my fantasies.
For now.
Oh really, inner voice? Now you’re impudent? Now?
He exhaled a short breath, it also sounded frustrated, but his tone was soft as he said, “Hey.”
I placed a tight smile on my face, it was the best I could manage. “Hey.”
Jackson seemed to be considering me, debating what to do next. He didn’t take too long. “Do you want to go for a drive?”
“Yes,” I said immediately. “Yes, I do. Let me grab a jacket.”
“Okay. I’ll wait here.” He shifted his weight to his back foot and hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets.
I wanted to take a picture of him like this, all handsome reluctance and sexy self-control. This man, he just did something to me. I couldn’t explain it.
But maybe if we took this drive and spent some time together talking—just talking—I’d start to figure it out.
Meet Penny Reid
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
Romance Reviewed 